On December 18 1499 the Muslims in Granada revolted against the Christiancity governments attempts to suppress their rights to live and worship asfollowers of I... » 

On December 18 1499 the Muslims in Granada revolted against the Christiancity governments attempts to suppress their rights to live and worship asfollowers of Islam. Although the Granada riot was a local phenomenon that wassoon contained subsequent widespread rebellion provided the Christiangovernment with an excuseor justification as its leaders saw thingstoembark on the systematic elimination of the Islamic presence from Spain aswell as from the Iberian Peninsula as a whole over the next hundred years.Picking up at the end of his earlier classic study Islamic Spain 1250 to1500 which described the courageous efforts of the followers of Islam topreserve their secular as well as sacred culture in late medieval SpainL.P. Harvey chronicles here the struggles of the Moriscos. These forced convertsto Christianity lived clandestinely in the sixteenth century as Muslimscommunicating in aljamiado Spanish written in Arabic characters. Morebroadly Muslims in Spain 1500 to 1614 tells the story of an early modernnation struggling to deal with diversity and multiculturalism while torn by thefanaticism of the CounterReformation on one side and the threat of Ottomanexpansion on the other. Harvey recounts how a century of tolerance degeneratedinto a vicious cycle of repression and rebellion until the final expulsion in1614 of all Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula. Retold in all itscomplexity and poignancy this tale of religious intolerance politicalmaneuvering and ethnic cleansing resonates with many modern concerns. Eagerlyawaited by Islamist and Hispanist scholars since Harveys first volume appearedin 1990 Muslims in Spain 1500 to1614 will be compulsory reading forstudent and specialist alike. The years most rewarding historical work isL. P. Harveys Muslims in Spain 1500 to 1614 a sobering account of thevarious ways in which a venerable Islamic culture fell victim to Christian big «